Tagged: Square Enix

FACT: I HAVE NOT BEEN DOING A GREAT JOB OF KEEPING UP ON THIS PART OF THE BLOG, A DOZEN APOLOGIES! NYCC prep has been crazier than usual.

IT HAS BEGUN! Revealed back at San Diego Comic Con this past summer, the first 2 waves of Batman ’66 figures have finally hit our shelves. FINALLY MORE BATMAN FIGURES JOKE GOES HERE! I imagine there’s actually some hype around these toys, as the long beloved TV show still has a huge fanbase, despite the fact that you can’t watch the show in any format due to legal problems. At least in a manner that Fox or Warner profits from. You can however give us cash money for action figures though. Series 1 has Batman, the Riddler and Penguin, and series 2 adds the Jokers and Surf’s Up Batman, complete with Bat-trunks and Bat-surf board. Which is pretty great, at least in my opinion you guys. Mattel, forced to not being able to recycle parts, has done a great job with these sculpts, going as far as to sculpt on a tiny mustache on the Joker’s upper lip and putting slippers over the Riddler’s leotard, both nice nods to the show. And the paint jobs are super sharp, only matching the figures up to their on-screen counterparts even more. At $24 a pop, this probably only appeals to older collectors/ fans of the show, but at least you’re getting your money’s worth. And it’s only beginning, as we’ll be getting a button more Batman ’66 related products in.

Maybe you’re saying to yourself “Chris, maybe I want some DC toys, but I want them with some questionable designs!” ARE YOU EVER IN LUCK MYSTERIOUS INTERNET PERSON. The first line of the DC Variant Play Art Kai figures are out and man. Just..man.

LOOK AT HOW FRIKKIN HUGE THEIR LEGS ARE!

As someone who’s played his fair share of Japanese video game and watched a decent amount of the animes, I really don’t get what’s going on here. These are like Amei-Con statues gone rogue, only articulate and packing variant pieces and weapons. LIKE A KATANA, WHY WOULD BATMAN BE PACKING A KATANA, THAT IS A FINE WAY TO KILL PEOPLE, SOMETHING BATS DOES NOT DO. And don’t be fooled by these preview shots, the shoulders on these things are actually awful and bulky on both Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. I’m not sure who’d want to spend $80+ on these, but we have them in stock if you’re someone who is.

Going to stop talking DC for the day to point out that we also have some new Minimates in stock. There’s a Tomb Raider series, which is pretty great and diverse as hell IMO, a The Wolverine set which is kinda bland, and a new Marvel set featuring Marvel NOW character like Superior Spider-Man and the new Nova. It’s hard to judge these things, as they’re pretty much perfect. Standard figures with fun accessories, some cool, minimal sculpts and a good price point. I’m a big fan of the Tomb Raider game, and these minimates are a nice alternative to the solo Tomb Raider Play Arts we got earlier this year, although the Wolverine set remains a cruel tease to that Legends set we’ve yet to get. BOO URNS!

That’s all for this week! I’ll probably get another bunch of new toy preview/reviews up after NYCC, where I’ll be drunk on news/booze.

And we’re back! By now you’re probably all expecting me to start creaming my pants over the 2011 Marvel Universe offerings, and this WILL happen, but let me address my other picks for the year first.

NECA had a rad year, releasing some really solid figures based on a variety of video games series like Gears of War 3, the Assassin Creed series, Dead Space 2, Bulletstorm, & Crysis 2, as well as several film properties. The Gears 3 figures are my favorite, as they’re a mixture of solid sculpts, accessories, and plentiful articulation. NECA also won me over with their Heroclix releases ranging from comic stuffs like Marvel & DC (including some of their movie counterparts) to game franchises like Street Fighter & Gears of War (popular series is popular), as well as sci-fi/fantasy properties like Star Trek and Lord of the Rings. Truth be told though, the NEXTWAVE figures that dropped this past year are the reason I care the most about Heroclix, and I really don’t think I can be faulted too much for my excitement .

Since I’m already on the topic of comic-related stuffs, let’s talk DC. We’ll start off with DC Direct 2011, which had a nice catalog of figures for the year, most of them being Batman, or at least Batman-related. I kid, there was a ton ofGreen Lantern love as well, between the Blackest Night/Brightest Day/GL proper series lines. I’m real glad that I now own a complete series of modern version of the Green Lanterns in scale with one another thanks to DC Direct. But if I’m going to have to pick a favorite DC Direct figure this year, it’s going to be the Commander Shepard figures from the long-delayed Mass Effect 2 wave, which was canceled after the 1st set because Bioware was upset with the delays of it’s release. Despite it not being NECA quality, it’s still the ONLY Shepard figure to date, something I hope changes in 2012 with the release of Mass Effect 3. NECA, Square Enix, one of you need to make this happen. Continue reading →

SHAMELESS PLUG OF THE WEEK: From January 5-8, 2012, my ass will be at the MAGfest X (Magfest.org, which stands for Music and Games Festival) down in Maryland, and I highly encourage you hit the festival up as well! Nobuo Uematsu, the genius behind many a awesome Final Fantasy soundtrack, will be there performing with his new band, Earthbound Papas, as well as many other talented folk (like John St. John, the voice behind Duke Nukem!) , and most importantly, an 8-player X-Men arcade cabinet. It’s a good way to start up 2012, so make sure you register online before the 16th!

So it’s now December, which means shelves everywhere are filled with toys. Forbidden Planet NYC is no exception, as we have a ton of new merchandise in stock, most likely relevant to your interests if you’re reading this website. And yes, after selling out a few times, we currently do have My Little Ponies in stock again.

First and foremost, new model kits, we got them in stock! We’ve restocked Gundam SEED, WING, Unicorn,and Zeta kits, and we finally got the first wave of Gundam Age kits in. In addition to all the new Gundam stuffs, we also have a few model kits based on the various ship from the Shonen Jump hit One Piece. These kits are more Gunplay-like in assembly than say actual model boats, and offer something different to build instead of more mecha (although there is nothing wrong with building mecha. Nothing at all). Kits start at $25 and go up from there, depending on the kit and scale.

Since my shameless plug of the week was video game related, it’s only fair that we discuss some new VIDEYA GAME toys that have been released. The first wave of Gears of War 3 figures in, consisting of main character Marcus Fenix, supporting character turned Gear Anya Stroud, and the 3rd brother of the ill-fated Carmines, Clayton. Each figure is about 7″ in height and has about 30 points of articulation and comes with a small selection of weapons packaged with them.They’re good figures, but Anya’s face could use some work. That aside, they’re still pretty good figures for less than $20. The 2nd wave should be hitting shelves soon. Continue reading →

Anywho FPNYC faithful, if you haven’t been by the store lately, you should probably check out the new display we have set up in the front window. While FPNYC has been slowing down on keeping Gunpla kits in stock, we been working to getting the best of Bandai SH Figuarts in stock! We have some Kamen Rider and One Piece figures currently in stock, but expect to see such legendary series like Dragon Ball Z & Gundam on our shelves during the coming week, as well as Megaman, and the newest anime hit on the block, superhero epic Tiger & Bunny. Really looking forward to reviewing those Figuarts over the next couple of months, as the show is fantastic, and the Wild Tiger we have on display look amazing. And speaking of import figures, I’d like to point out that we currently have the 100th Figma in stock, Miku Hatsuneof Vocaloid fame in her Append version. And no, I have no idea what “Append version”, means, although it makes for a completely different look than the Miku Figma my wife has in our living room. Loran probably does though, which is why he’ll be reviewing this figure in a few weeks and not me. Either way, I think it looks neat, and Vocaloid stuff always flies off the shelf, so if you want her, come pick her up ASAP!

Let’s move into some toys I’ve discussed in the past, but now we have in stock to I can shed a little more light on them. Square Enix’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution Play Art Kai figures are in stocks, and damn, they look good. The first time the acclaimed series had any sort of action figure tie-in, the series consists of main protagonist Adam Jensen, and 2 of his mercenary arch enemies Federova & Lawrence Barret. While I haven’t put the most time into the game, the figures look amazing, are fully articulated, and come with variant hands, and a good selection of weapons. For $50 a pop, Square definitely delivers. We also have the 19th wave of DCU Classic in stock, which consists of Justice Society of American figures. I’m not too crazy about Kobra or the Golden Age versions of the characters, but Magog and Stargirl are definitely nice additions to the previous released JSA figures.

Wrapping up this week’s new releases, we have a line of comic booked-based action who DON’T wear spandex. Image’s Walking Dead has been a huge in print and on TV, and McFarlane Toys has the rights to do figures based on both the comics and smash-hit live action AMC TV series. The first line of toys is based on comics, and consists of Officer Rick Grimes, the deadly and awesome Michonne, and 2 flavors of zombies, Lurker and Roamer. Both Rick and Michonne are fairly articulated and come armed with a variety of weapons (Rick with a ton of guns, Michhonne with a sword, knife, and some tools), while the 2 zombies have removable limbs and exploding parts. That’s awesome! Either way, each figures goes for about $15 a pop and this is the part of the article where I would say you should drag you corpse over to FPNYC to pick them up, but I’m better than that. At least I like to think so.

::: Coughs for several minutes before vomiting up several organs of varying importance:::

Once again, New York Comic Con has come and gone, this time giving me a case of the death, along with a ton of freebies, like posters, shirts and comics that I would never buy. The con was awesome and if you want a recap of what I did that doesn’t involve toys, I suggest you check out the article I typed up for BleedingCool.com, which can be found right here: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/10/18/cosplaying-with-seth-green-chris-troys-nycc/

As for toy news from NYCC that you should care about:

– Next year’s Avengers toyline will have figures in-scale with Marvel Universe/ Marvel Movie figures as well as Marvel Legends sized figures. (3.5″ and 6″ to those unfamiliar with what the hell I’m talking about) On display were Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Hulk, & Loki for both lines, in addition to Black Widow, Thor, and Nick Fury for the 3.5″ figures.)

-The 2nd wave of the returning Marvel Legends line will consist of Big Time Spider-Man, Daken, Madam Hydra, Fantomex, Bucky, Captain America, Madam Masaque, Thunderball, and Build-a-Figure Arnim Zola. As good as the Avenger figures looks, these looks amazing, and I will end up buying WAY too many of them.

-DC Direct & Mattel both had “Arkham City”-based figures on display. Mattel’s will be 2-packs, and will feature characters like Harley Quinn, Robin, Batman, and the Joker. DC Direct, is making single cared figures of Batman and literally ALL his villains from the game, as well as oversized deluxe characters from the first game like Venom-Joker, Killer Croc, & Bane. Also Catwoman, who I guess we can consider an alley at this point.

-Square Enix also had Arkham Asylum figures on display, Batman and the Joker of course. Also, photos of an armored Batman & Harley Quinn. In addition to these, there were Halo Play Arts Kai, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (which we just got in!), Serrah from Final Fantasy 13-2, as well as fully painted prototypes of the new Street Fighter 4 line, consisting of Ryu, Chun-Li, Akuma, and Cammy. Without a doubt, these are the BEST looking Street Fighter figures to date, so expect me to rave about Cammy when she drops in 2012. Continue reading →

Happy October everyone! As the fall approaches, I’m excited for one of the best months of the year. Football is back, baseball games actually matter (when not rained out), Octoberfest and its various spellings are going on, and we’re 14 days away from New York Comic Con/ Anime Festival. With online badges beginning to sell out, it’s a wise decision to swing by Forbidden Planet to pick up passes to the biggest and bestest comic/pop-culture convention on the East Coast! And since it’s rare that anyone discusses the well-run but way-smaller Anime Festival section of the convention, today’s article will focus on FPNYC’s import section in its honor!

Shall we start off looking at some new anime influenced statues based on western properties? Obviously yes, because the photos of the new releases are already attached to the article, and you really have no say in the matter. While I await the new Marvel releases, 2 new DC Ami-Cons statues have hit the shelves; another Wonder Woman statue, based on the JMS/Phil Hester run of the series, and Raven of Teen Titans fame for the first time! Raven is super Gothed-out, judging from the size of those boots with their many buckles. I can’t say I’m a fan of either of them, because there’s already been a ton of Wonder Woman anime statues and I was never crazy about Raven to be honest. But what’s this? A new Kotobukiya Bishoujo statue? Based on…. GHOSTBUSTERS?! Yup! Say hello to Lucy folks! Why I haven’t cared about Ghostbusters in forever and think the torn uniform is a little fan service-y, this is a beautiful statue, armed with the trademark Proton Pack, Ecto Goggles and ghost trap. And for what we’re charging for it, it’s a great pick up if you’re a fan of Ghostbusters or the Bishoujo line. Continue reading →

It’s a good week to be a nerd, FPNYC faithful! Captain America is kicking ass in theaters (stay after the credits btw, the teaser for the next big Marvel movie is amazing!), there’s a plethora of awesome news coming from San Diego Comic Con (Play Arts Batman?!?!?!? Square-Enix, you are too kind!) and Grant Morrison‘s “Supergods” is on shelves! Grant is arguable my favorite writer working in comics today, as his runs on New X-men, All-Star Superman, JLA and various Batmantitles are without a doubt my favorite take on those characters. “Supergods” is a non-fiction novel which tells the history of comics, as well the story of Grant’s own life. A $30 hardcover novel, I’m about 3/4th through it and I can honestly say it’s a solid auto-biography/history lesson. Just expect a lot of Morrison’s crazy-babble when it comes to his experiences with drug-use during his time writing “The Invisibles” and a bit of Alan Moore bashing (which as much as I like the man’s work, is deserved at times). Some of the copies we have are signed as well, so it’s worth adding to your bookshelves if you want a fascinating look into the life of one of comics’ most talent writers, as well as a pretty solid history of the medium. Continue reading →

Up to now, most of the video game related figures we’ve looked at have been created by Square Enix, as most of them have been based on Japanese properties. However, Square’s expansion to non-Final Fantasy/ Kingdom Hearts properties is still fairly new, and they wouldn’t be the first company to handle both eastern and western video game properties this decade (Technically Toy Biz is, but those toys are super dated). Ever since 2004, NECA has been working with a number of publishers to create figures based on best selling games and franchises. Today’s article will highlight some of the products they’ve churned out these last couple of years, both the good and the bad.

In the beginning…..

The first line of video game related toys that introduced me to NECA was the Resident Evil 4 line. This wasn’t the first time a American company had attempted to create toys based on the best selling Survivor-Horror Games (again Toy Biz covered Resident Evil 1-3 with figures in the late 90s), and NECA launched with a line that was well sculpted (for 2004) and came with a decent amount of accessories per figure. Pictured is RE4 lead Leon S Kennedy, who aside from a handgun, came with a knife, rocket launcher and a few grenades. The major flaw with these figures were that articulation on them were severely limited, and were sculpted in odd positions, attempting to be like McFarlane Toys. NECA released 2 lines for RE4, and then figures based on the Resident Evil 1 remakes, but would not touch the line again until 2009. We’ll get back to that later.

NECA’s sculpts got better with time, as they moved on to work on figures based on popular Eidos properties like Tomb Raider and Hitman, but the first line of video game toys that really caught my attention were based on Konami’s Castlevania series. The first (and sadly only) line in the set focused on the original Castlevania, as well as Symphony on the Night, arguably the most popular entry in the series to date. NECA finally managed to combined good sculpts with better articulation, as seen with Alucard and the Succubus. These improved sculpts didn’t mean that NECA would cut back on accessories though, as both figures came with weapons from the game, and in the Succubus’ case, a tiny demonic sidekick. These figures have proven to be very popular, and the line was re-released several times, to the point the FPNYC still has them in stock. Continue reading →

LAST NYCC/NYAF POST I SWEAR! BUT EVERYTHING IS RELEVANT TO THE BLOG SO IT’S COOL!

One week and $240 later, another NYCC/NYAF has passed. Despite the Saturday crowds, I had a blast at the convention, scoring some cool sketches, autographs, t-shirts, cds, toys and action figures. However all of those aren’t blog related, so let’s get to the stuff that is!

Chris’ short Gundam OO movie review: Was very excited for the film upon hearing it was going to be screened at the con. That didn’t last too long once the actual film started. It looks nice and yes, the Gundam fights are very much awesome, but man, the rest of the film is a convoluted mess. Gundam OO faithful should see it (I guess, assuming you survived season 2) for some closure to the series, but it’s not going to win any haters over. But hey, on the bright side, the Gundams themselves are awesome, and we have most, if not all their respected Gunpla in stock, so pick up a kit or 2 to deal with the disappointment!

Bandai announces new Gundam releases: Shocking no one, Bandai of America announced that they’ll be releasing the Gundam OO movie in the US, as they have with every Gundam release ever. They also announced that the Turn A DVDs will be Sub-only, which hopefully means for a single box collection with a lower price point (2 sets also work for my nerd needs, as I desperate want to watch CURLEY MUSTACHE Gundams legally). The biggest news is the fact that the ORIGINAL Mobile Suit Gundam series is being released on DVD in America next year, with a Japanese audio/American sub track, something the originals that tied into the Cartoon Network airing lacked. As for the dub end of things, we’ll be getting the Cartoon Network dub again, but hey, at least we’ll have the option of changing languages this time around.

The Gunpla Booth/Import toy booth was also stupid awesome. I’m fairly certain most of the drool on of those display cases came from me. Unforunately, the prices were still pretty high, even though no real importing was happening (strong yen/weak dollar etc), so my spending was limited there. As in I bought nothing from them. Continue reading →